Sempra Energy LNG export facility in Louisiana gets green light

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility will be built in Cameron Parish, La., by California-based natural gas company Sempra Energy, U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La, has announced.

The company operates an import-only facility in Southwest Louisiana, but it applied to the Department of Energy (DOE) in 2011 for permission to modify and expand the facility into an export plant. It took regulators more than two years to give the project the green light but now that approval has been granted the facility will be a major driver for the regional economy. It is estimated that the project will create 3,000 construction jobs and about 140 full-time jobs, Sen. Landrieu said.

Transforming and upgrading the facility will cost around $10 billion and it will help Sempra Energy become a major player on the LNG export market. The facility will meet the highest sustainability and safety standards, the senator said.

According to Sen. Landrieu this approval was "long overdue" but the new facility will be a valuable addition to the already robust energy development strategy that the state of Louisiana has been implementing. The senator is an advocate for expanding LNG export facilities and capacities because this sector has great potential to bring profit to state and national budgets at a time when domestic demand is outstripped by supply.